31 July 2012

Bogus Road Works

| snarek
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I am a supporter of booking people speeding through road works, people’s lives are at stake.

But as a regular long distance driver I have a theory that a driver’s willingness to slow down is inversely proportional to the number of bogus road works he/she has endured.

You know the ones, ‘slow down’ signs, 40 kph signs, then nothing, or a bit of gravel.. no people, no works.

A couple of these and it seems it is pedal to the metal through the next one, pity if some poor guy is actually working there.

The reason is lawyers, malfeasance, holding some poor engineer responsible for every pothole in his/her Shire.

But now the Canberra City Council is at it. ‘Roadworks’ northbound on the Barton Highway. What cr@p!! There are no roadworks and the road surface is better than many 100 kph zones in NSW.

To me this is negligence worse than what lawyers chase, it causes people to ignore real road works and risk workers’ lives. Typical rubbish ACT road planning!

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magiccar9 said :

Chiming in here asking about the ‘roadworks’ on Adelaide avenue. I understand they seem to be fixing the guard rails, but I don’t believe it warrants the 40 or 60 km/h speed zone. I’ll admit I never slow down, simply because when I pass through there is never any workers in sight!

I’ve seen them working on the weekends, with accompanying lane closures. I only use it in mornings and evenings during the week, so I don’t know if anything’s happening in between.

A fairly apt microcosm of ACT roadworks: the new refuge island on State Circle (in front of Hotel Realm) was installed in near-record time – a couple of days, tops. It then sat for two weeks with traffic cones surrounding it, waiting for someone to come and paint the kerbs white. Three weeks after the painter did his bit, the cones still sit, neatly stacked, in the middle of the island.

magiccar9 said :

Would I be wrong to challenge such a issue should I get booked?

Good Luck with that defence.

Chiming in here asking about the ‘roadworks’ on Adelaide avenue. I understand they seem to be fixing the guard rails, but I don’t believe it warrants the 40 or 60 km/h speed zone. I’ll admit I never slow down, simply because when I pass through there is never any workers in sight!
Also, the speed signage surely must adhere to the Aust Road regulations yes? So I’m guessing a sign propped poorly against a small container on the ground doesn’t exactly qualify. Would I be wrong to challenge such a issue should I get booked?

Shirley this injustice calls for a regular thread in the style of the monday bad parking ones.

I have to confess that it is the only time I ever ignore speed rules. Majura Road is a classic example. I’ve been driving on that road every morning and afternoon for the past 6 months now and for the first at least 4 months the only roadworks were near the Federal Highway turn-off but the roadworks speed limit signs were several kilometers before that. Watson Jr used to make me slow down to get a thank you from the digital speed check sign (which is often terribly inaccurate) but now I just keep going a steady 80kph until I see the “extra” roadworks sign that indicates that there is a lollipop guy up ahead.

I had an interesting conversation with Watson Jr the other day in which I argued that ignoring the speed limit there was the wrong thing to do and she argued back that I had a very valid reason for doing so, which then led to me trying to convince her that picking and choosing which road rules to follow is asking for trouble. But still I go 80 there until I see the ‘Prepare to stop’ sign and so do most other drivers who use the road regularly.

While you’re at it – what’s with the roadworks signage on the Parkway just before you pass the turn-off to the Stanhope Memorial Park? There’s a sign there saying “End Roadwork” – really? Where was the start of it? And where was the actual work?

It also seems they’ve left a lot of the roadworks signage around Morshead Dr/Pialligo Ave too (between Monaro Hwy and Fairbairn Ave). Even the speed limit signs have “Road Works” printed on them, yet it must be about the only major road in Canberra at the moment without some sort of modification underway.

Well they better fix the potholes on Main St…

wildturkeycanoe8:35 pm 31 Jul 12

Parkes Way westbound, under GDE. 60 all the time but all that is there EVERY time I drive through is nothing but a portaloo and no workers.
Parked Way eastbound, 70 zone but nobody in sight at 6:30 am!!!!
The 40 zone for “roadworks” down Starke st and all they are doing is fixing the footpaths???
Honestly, does it really affect safety SO much that we have to abide by the rules 24 hours a day whilst they can go home a be safe for 16 hours? Before you all talk about the altered road markings or narrowings, none of the above are applicable. Why then aren’t school zones 40 all the time? Why does the speed limit of 80 apply on a 3 lane “freeway” from Belconnen to Civic? Why doesn’t my car do 90km/h going up the hill on the “freeway” mentioned and I get overtaken by people txting on their mobile phones whilst blinding me with their “fog lights” at 1600 hrs????
BTW, I started getting sarcastic around half way if you didn’t notice.

screaming banshee6:47 pm 31 Jul 12

Sure, but where can you get nice donuts in this town

musing… what a great way for the ACT government to quickly make up any funding shortfalls they find during the year. Send the ACT Traffic Plod out with some Roadworks 40 km/hr signs, set them up… and wait. When the day’s/project’s target is reached, put signs back in boot and head back to town for some nice doughnuts.

artuoui said :

Especially irritating is the insistence that deliveries must occur during the morning peak, and the kamikaze idiot with stop sign who needs to make sure that a string of cars will stop so one of their trucks can leisurely back out of the site.

I agree. How terribly inconsiderate of them to operate during the same hours as the majority of the population.

And the Kamikaze stop sign guy – don’t get me started on him! The nerve, to think we have the time to wait 10 seconds for a truck to reverse out of a work site. Don’t they realize they could just merge with the constant, aggressive flow of Canberran drivers as we all know there are plenty of gaps in the traffic.

So in agreeance, work sites should only operate outside of business hours where they have absolutely no capacity to disrupt ‘normal’ people and stop sign operators should be tried for crimes of war.

I really resent those “roadworks” zones around private building sites – knowing there will be no improvement to the road to compensate for all the traffic disruption. Especially irritating is the insistence that deliveries must occur during the morning peak, and the kamikaze idiot with stop sign who needs to make sure that a string of cars will stop so one of their trucks can leisurely back out of the site.

I’d like to think the ACT govt charges a hefty fee for this privilege, but since I don’t hear the Property Council constantly whinging about this I suspect they don’t.

Definnitely true. This is why parents tell their kids the story of the boy who cried wolf. If you lie continuously, eventually nobody will believe you and you will get eaten. Just in this case it’s the villagers who get fined for not helping the boy for the 50th time in a row.

Simple fact is that the average driver will take roadwork signage seriously just as soon as the people responsible for posting them do. Bogus/poorly placed signage is now the norm rather than the exception, and we’ve all got a bit too used to it.

dks00k said :

Oh, and the reason why the speed limit is reduced for that “little bit of gravel” is so that morons (like yourself?) don’t scream through there throwing rocks and shit all over oncoming vehicles…..

While that may be true, running a street sweeping truck along there every couple of days would also reduce the (already minor risk) further by sweeping up the gravel.

Holden Caulfield11:13 am 31 Jul 12

dks00k said :

Well I’d hazard a guess that you aren’t from around these parts are you? Canberra City Council? If you you were a regular reader here you would know why the speed limit on that section of road has been reduced to 80. Oh, and the reason why the speed limit is reduced for that “little bit of gravel” is so that morons (like yourself?) don’t scream through there throwing rocks and shit all over oncoming vehicles…..

Are you referring to the Federal Highway?

Totally agree – nothing pisses me off more than signs for 60, then 40 that are left in place when clearly there are no roadworks happening – at that time, or even ever.

Glenloch interchange – from City to Belco. If the roadwork signs are relevant for the off ramp what is the point of slowing down all the trafic going straight through to William Hovell?

Similarly, the Barton H’way up around the new Kuringa Dr intersection (is that the one you meant snarek?). It’s been finished a month now and the signs to slow down are still up. People are used to the new arrangements after a couple of days. Please take down the roadwork signs then.

Holden Caulfield10:34 am 31 Jul 12

Can’t say I disagree with much of what the OP states.

Well I’d hazard a guess that you aren’t from around these parts are you? Canberra City Council? If you you were a regular reader here you would know why the speed limit on that section of road has been reduced to 80. Oh, and the reason why the speed limit is reduced for that “little bit of gravel” is so that morons (like yourself?) don’t scream through there throwing rocks and shit all over oncoming vehicles…..

I recall some minister gabbing on about how these roadworks were completed earlier this year.

http://www.tams.act.gov.au/move/roads/construction_projects/clarrie_hermes_drive suggests it was ahead of schedule in February, yet the roadwork speed limits are still in effect.

I certainly got some strange looks on the weekend as vehicles overtook me when I stuck to the reduced speed limit until the end roadwork sign up near the 100 signpost.

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